John Duval is an ex Royal Navy Officer who retired after an incident at sea and now works as a private investigator in England. Driven by ego, lust and a trove of dark secrets, he stumbles on an string of brutal murders. Three women are dismembered and arranged in gruesome poses in the span of a few days, and his own snooping renders himself as the prime suspect. Police Detective-Inspector Jane Ambrose keeps hauling him in for questioning and consultation, while hiding some of her own secrets. The fact that Duval slept with some of the victims the very night they were murdered casts an inconvenient shadow on his investigation. Even worse, he's prone to blackouts, and he has no alibi at the times of death.